


Akumas, Puns, and Cinnamon Buns

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Identity Reveal, One Shot Collection, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 13:52:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6155762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a series of one-shots for the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, I'll be adding more as I write them, each chapter will be a new one. Not really any romance, but friendships. Also, some might have identity reveal.  </p><p>"But she couldn’t tell him, let him know she knew. <br/>Because then.. who knew how he would react?<br/>Their quiet friendship might be broken.	<br/>And then where would she be?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trapped

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy!

The akuma was a tough one, an angry locksmith who’s entry to a lock contest had been refused by the Mayor for copying, even though his design was original. He wore locks and keys on a gold spandex suit, and was able to conjure them to open and close doors (and hit things). Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting him in the Mayor’s house, where he was trying to get revenge on ‘all who’d wronged him,’ apparently.  
He flung them into a small room, and shot a lock symbol at it. Ladybug whipped out her yo-yo, but the door was already shut.  
“I know what you’re going to do, Chat, and Ladybug, and I’ve already planned for it,” the man said with a smug voice. “Deadbolt!” he cried, and the door turned to a writhing black substance.  
Ladybug looked at Chat, who had an annoyed expression on his face. “Turns out he’s a scholar, too. That’s what Cataclysm is made of, it can’t be broken. We’re stuck here.”  
“Can we go through-”  
“No, it destroys, remember? If we go through it… well, it won’t be pretty.” Suddenly, his face brightened. “I guess that means I’m stuck here with you, huh, my Lady?”  
She pushed him away. “We need to get out of here, Chat.” She looked around, and saw that all the walls were made of the same strange substance. She frowned, looking at her Miraculous, and softly swore.  
“Woah, Ladybug, I thought you were too pure or something to say that!”  
She glared at Chat. “How’re we going to save the Mayor if we’re trapped here?”  
“I told him to get far away, I hope he listened.”  
Ladybug grinned. “Ah, Chat, you actually had a good idea for once?”  
He looked at her, indignant. “Hey! I have good ideas all the time!”  
She looked at him pointedly. He sighed. “Alright, not all the time. But most of it.”  
“Yeah,” she agreed, “They’re not always clawsome.”  
He burst out laughing. “So you chose! Finally, I wanted some advice from-”  
Ladybug cut him off. “Tell no one I made a cat pun. No. One.”  
He covered his mouth, trying to stifle a giggle.  
“Stop laughing, Chat.”  
“Sorry.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Ladybug peering at the walls and Chat lying on the ground quietly chuckling to himself.  
Finally, Ladybug got fed up with his soft snorts, and turned around in exasperation.  
“What in the world is there to laugh about right now, Chat?” she asked, hands on her hips.  
“I-I’m sorry, I just… We’re stuck in this room together and I don’t even know who you are.”  
“I’m Ladybug, that’s who I am,” she replied pointedly.  
“Fine, so you aren’t going to tell me who you really are, huh?”  
“Nope.”  
He groaned, flopping to the floor. “What are we supposed to do now, miss Luck?”  
“I don’t know,” Ladybug said, staring at the writhing walls glumly. “I really don’t know.”  
“Ah, bugaboo. You always know just what to say.”

A shrieking noise split the air, and Ladybug looked up to see a crack in the wall of darkness.  
“He must be losing power! Probably because he hasn’t gotten our Miraculouses yet, and he’s tired out.”  
“Huh?” Chat looked up blearily. Ladybug couldn’t see what time it was, but she assumed the sun had gone down half an hour ago, when she had yelled at Chat for making puns again.  
“Lucky Charm!” A water gun landed in her hands, squirting a jet of water at Chat’s face as it landed.  
Ladybug laughed as he batted at his face, trying to figure out what had happened. “Haha, kitty doesn’t like water,” she teased. She grinned, and squirted the water at the crack in the wall. It dissolved, leaving them visible to the open air. It was dark, as she had thought.  
She sighed, and jumped down, and when Chat Noir joined her, they tracked down the akuma, which was conveniently, the large key on the front of the Locksmith’s suit. Ladybug was able to grab it and break it, releasing the butterfly, which she purified. After using Miraculous Ladybug to restore everything to the way it had been, she fist-bumped Chat in front of the confused man.  
She was about to bound away, because she had only a couple minutes left before her Miraculous ran out, when Chat caught her arm. “Hey,” he said, and she stiffened, expecting him to ask her to reveal her identity to him. “What? I was just going to say we should do that more often.”  
She tried to put a fierce expression on her face, but a bit of smile leaked out, and he grinned. “See, I knew you’d grin at my purrfect suggestion!” She laughed, and ran away before her Miraculous ran out.


	2. Cat Puns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir almost reveals his identity while trying out a new cat pun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was so short! I'll do a longer one later.

Chat looked at Ladybug with a solemn expression. They sat on a rooftop after an akuma attack, and their Miraculouses were at almost full power.   
“What?” Ladybug asked, annoyed at him suddenly for some reason.  
“I have something important to ask you,” he said slowly, leaning in.  
Ladybug looked apprehensive. “What is it?” she inquired.  
“Which cat pun should I use: pawsome or clawsome?”  
She frowned. “Oh, look, my Miraculous is running out. See you.. some other time.”  
He grinned cheekily at her departing back as she swung across the rooftops. “Which one…. huh, maybe I should ask people at school.”   
He ran back home and flopped into bed, musing over cat puns.

The next day at school, Marinette was sitting with Alya in the cafeteria when a whisper came from behind, and she jumped.  
“Hey, I’m asking the class: which pun is better, pawsome or clawsome?”  
Marinette turned around and saw Adrien sitting there. She squeaked. “Um… well…. ah… not sure.”  
Alya grinned, and turned to him. “Definitely pawsome.”  
“Okay, one of pawsome… got it.” He turned back around in his seat and started to ask Nino the same question. 

After Marinette had gone home from school, she lay on her bed. While she was reviewing her embarrassing moment with Adrien, she noticed something. But… it couldn’t be. Could it?   
Tiki hovered over her, trying not to say anything. She knew Marinette would find out on her own, eventually.


	3. How We See Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kinda a reveal, but mostly differing perspectives.

It came to her in bits and pieces.  
His quirky smile.  
The way he looked when he made an especially bad pun.  
His caramel hair.  
His summer grass eyes.  
His reflexes.  
The way he looked… at her.  
Adrien was Chat Noir.  
But she couldn’t tell him, let him know she knew.   
Because then.. who knew how he would react?  
Their quiet friendship might be broken.   
And then where would she be?

It came to him in slices and chunks.  
Her shy grin.  
The way she looked when he made an especially good pun.  
Her night-sky hair.  
Her bluebell eyes.  
Her reflexes.  
The way she looked… at him.  
Marinette was Ladybug.  
But he couldn’t tell her, let her know he knew.   
Because then.. who knew how she would react?  
Their undercurrent of romance might end.  
And then where would he be?


	4. Eyes Like Bluebells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug finally kissed Chat Noir! Which somehow leads to an identity reveal? How did you manage that, Adrien, hmmm? Silly lovestruck boy.
> 
> “dear ladybug,  
> you are the center of my universe  
> your eyes like bluebells  
> your hair like -summer sky- night sky  
> happy valentines day  
> -chat noir”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -word- are supposed to be crossed out, just so you know.

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat on a roof, their legs dangling off the side as they watched the sun set after a particularly hard akuma fight. They had detransformed, and retransformed after it was over so they could patrol, but all seemed to be quiet in Paris.  
“So,” Ladybug stated, staring at the pink sky.  
“So.”  
“I should really go, Chat. I need sleep for tomorrow.”  
“What’s tomorrow?” he asked, curious.  
“Nothing important, a test I think.”  
“Ah.”  
They sat there for a moment longer, and Ladybug stared at Chat’s siloutte, lit by the setting sun. His black clothes were tinged pink by the sky, and his eyes looked greener then ever. His hair looked like fire, turned orange in the light. She was struck by his beauty, in that moment. She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, but before he could respond, she was off bounding across the rooftops like a ninja.

“Bro,” Nino said as he walked up to Adrien, “What’re you doing?”  
“Oh, just writing something,” he replied vaguely, staring off into the distance, his pencil slack in his hand. “Bro.”  
“Are you staring at Marinette again, man?”  
“No,” he said, distracted. “Bro.”  
Nino looked concerned. “Dude, are you okay?”  
“No. Yes. Maybe.”  
He stared at Adrien, waving his hand in front of his face. “Seriously, bro. Are you even listening?”  
“Uh.. okay.”  
“Bro. Come in. Are you there?” Nino looked over at Alya, who was chatting with Marinette. “I need some help over here, guys,” he called. They ran over, and stopped short in front of Adrien. “Nino, what’re you doing to him?” Alya asked, slightly concerned that her boyfriend had somehow hypnotized Adrien or something.   
“He seems… distracted,” Nino said, showing her Adrien’s blank expression, and the crumpled paper that had fallen to the ground.   
Marinette picked it up, and as she read it, her eyes widened. “Oh,” she said softly to herself.  
“What?” Alya demanded, turning to her.   
Marinette quickly hid it behind her. “N-nothing. It’s nothing.”  
Alya sighed, turning back to Adrien.  
Marinette walked up to him. “Can I try? Alone?”   
Nino and Alya exchanged glances, and started to walk away, laughing to themselves.

Marienette stepped in front of Adrien, noting that the park was deserted, and night was falling on Paris. “Hey. You okay?”  
He sat, dazed. “She kissed me. She finally kissed me.”  
“Who?”  
He looked at her, as if waking up from a trance. “Huh? Oh, hi, Marienette.”  
“Who kissed you?”  
“O-oh. I said that out loud, huh?”  
“Yep. Who?”  
“Ah… just a Lady I hang out with. Sometimes. At night.”  
Marienette smiled to herself. “I read your poem.”  
“Wha- huh? Poem? What poem?” He reached for it, as she held it out of her reach. He grabbed it and scanned it, his eyes growing larger as he did so. “Did I.. write this?”

“dear ladybug,  
you are the center of my universe  
your eyes like bluebells  
your hair like summer sky night sky  
happy valentines day  
-chat noir”

He looked terrified. “Ah, I was… just.. cos..playing?” He trailed off as he saw her expression.  
“You know, don’t you?”  
“I know. Kitty cat.”   
And with that, she pecked him on the cheek and pranced off, her purse swinging from her shoulder. Adrien gaped at her disappearing back, in shock.  
Marienette was Ladybug, and she had just kissed him.


	5. A Separate Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Please. I want to know who you are.”
> 
> "I’m sorry. I can’t. You know I can’t."

Chat Noir stepped towards Ladybug, sighing as her miraculous beeped.   
“Please. I want to know who you are.”  
Ladybug couldn’t hurt him like this. But she had her own life, her own friends. Her own crush. And Chat Noir had a separate world, a separate life. The fact that they were probably strangers… no. She should stick to her own world, and not intrude into his.  
“I’m sorry. I can’t. You know I can’t.”  
He reached for her as she started to bound away, hopeful. “Wait, Ladybug. What if- what if we know each other in real life?”  
“I doubt it.”


	6. Heartbroken (or, the full-blown fanfiction that was supposed to just be a little drabble of a'what would happen if..?' kind of thing)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had said no.   
> She had finally, finally, worked up the courage to ask him out-  
> And he had said no.  
> He had said that he had ‘someone else’ in his life.  
> And she had really thought that he had liked her, too.
> 
> "'Heartbroken. My name is Hawkmoth. You can make everyone feel the pain you feel. But first, you must get-'
> 
> 'I know. The two miraculous’. I can do that.'"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a one-shot. Also, this was not supposed to be an identity reveal. Oh well, what can you do.

He had said no.   
She had finally, finally, worked up the courage to ask him out-  
And he had said no.  
He had said that he had ‘someone else’ in his life.  
Chloe, of course.  
And she had really thought that he had liked her, too.

Marienette was slumped on her bed, her face streaked with tears. A muffled sob came crawling from her throat, and Tikki patted her softly.   
“It’s okay, Marienette. You’ll find someone else-”  
“No, I won’t! Go away, please.” She gently pushed the kwami away. Tikki, looking sad, flew off in search of cookies to cheer her up her chosen one.

As Marienette sat there, she tried to block out a voice in her head.  
“Heartbroken. My name is Hawkmoth. You can make everyone feel the pain you feel. But first, you must get-”  
“I know. The two miraculous’. I can do that.”  
Hawkmoth smiled, butterflies swirling around him. “Good.”  
A purple butterfly entered her earring, turning it a dark silver color. The darkness spread down her entire body, leaving her clad in a Ladybug-esque grey and purple outfit. Her hair was pure black, and her eyes were like storm clouds before the rain. She smiled, and jumped out of her window, down to the street below.

Tikki shivered suddenly, and she paled. She never got cold, and that could only mean one thing- the current, civilian form of Ladybug had been akumitized. Without Tikki, she couldn’t fight off the transformation! Before she could warn Chat, however, she started to feel sick, and lost altitude. That was another problem of Marienette being akumitized- the kwami would suffer some ill effects the whole time. Tikki fell to the floor, helpless and weak. She groaned, knowing the pain that was to come. This had happened before, after all. This is how the Chat of that time period had died.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Adrien was in his room, staring at his bed, when he heard the screams. Screams of pain. He rushed to the window, to see people on the ground, clutching their chests. Another akuma. He sighed, and transformed into Chat Noir, jumping to the ground.

He rushed to the square, where the akuma was, and readied his pole. When he got there, though, he stopped short. Was that… Ladybug? Could she be akumitized? If she could, could he? He frowned for a moment, reconsidering. Those eyes… that smile… that wasn’t Ladybug. That was Marienette! He cursed, and clearing the civilians from the area, hoping Ladybug was coming soon. After everyone had left, he walked up to her.

“Hello, Chat,” she said with a sinister smile, lifting into the air. “I’ve been waiting for you, kitty cat. My name is Heartbroken. And you are going to die, now. Loneliness!” She cried, as she lifted her hand up, and shot a bolt of blue substance towards him. He dodged it, and it hit a tree, crumbling the wood that it touched. 

She chased him through the city, and he swerved away from the bolts of darkness, wary of their touch. She was surprisingly fast, and he didn’t know how long he could keep this up. Where was Ladybug? He would need her to purify the akuma, he knew. He didn’t even- oh. Her earrings glowed with an unnatural light, and he realized that was probably where the butterfly was, but he couldn’t do anything about that now.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Heartbroken felt victorious. She would break Chat’s heart, and he would see the pain she had felt. She felt particularly vicious towards him, because he looked so much like the one who had broken her heart. After checking for Adrien, and not finding him, she had settled for the next-best thing- Chat Noir. Hawkmoth had quickly agreed to this plan, since he wanted Chat’s miraculous anyway. 

Now, as Chat dodged her, she smiled to herself. After all, she thought, she had always been faster than her silly kitty cat.

——————————————————————————————————————————

It was all his fault, in retrospect. He had regretted turning down Marinette’s offer. He hadn’t realized it would hurt her so much, but he still was waiting for his Ladybug to reveal her identity. He just wished he wasn’t in love with both of them. But he had decided the one he wanted more, and that was Ladybug. 

But she still hadn’t showed up, and he was beginning to get tired. He ran over the rooftops, ducking and jumping every time he heard the telltale whistle of ‘sorrow,’ or ‘pain,’ or some other emotion she had in her arsenal. 

Finally, he fell, and landed on his back. Behind him was a wall, and on either side of him, a sheer drop. He knew his suit was strong, but not strong enough to withstand the fall. Heartbroken loomed over him, a ball of dark energy swirling in her hand. 

“Your Ladybug isn’t coming now, Chat,” she said, and he gasped, struggling to get up. What had she done with Ladybug? He grimaced as she prepared to shoot him. She laughed. “Oh, poor kitten, can’t get up. You’re like a helpless beetle on its back. Actually, that was what Ladybug   
was like before I struck her.”

He narrowed his eyes, fury burning in his chest. She had killed, or at least incapacitated, his luck Lady, his Ladybug! But he couldn’t do anything about it, and that was what really shook him. He, like Heartbroken had said, was helpless. 

The last thing he saw before she fired ‘pain’ at him was her smile, that looked so much like Ladybug.

——————————————————————————————————————————

He was dying.   
At least, that was what it felt like.   
He wanted to curl up into a ball and sob.  
The bolt shot towards his heart, making him cry out.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped out through his pain. “I’m sorry, Marienette! Please, please, help me.”  
Her stance faltered, but she soon regained her grin. “So, you finally understand what I felt. When you broke my heart for someone else.”  
“No, you don’t understand! Please… please.”  
She bared her teeth at him in what seemed like a sick imitation of Ladybug’s perfect smile.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Marienette was struggling. She desperately wanted to hurt him like Adrien had hurt her, but a voice in the back of her mind was crying out.   
This wasn’t Adrien, this was Chat! He hadn’t hurt her, she was hurting him. And innocent civilians. She had to stop.  
No, Heartbroken argued back. Didn’t she see the resemblance long ago, but refuse to accept it? Chat was Adrien, and he had broken her heart. She had to continue. She had to make them understand.   
But if Ladybug wasn’t there… the only way she could revert to her normal self was for her to purify herself. And if she didn’t win the battle in her mind, she couldn’t win the battle outside of it.  
She frowned as Chat struggled to come out of the pain, crying out.

“I’ll let you go,” she said, “if you give me your miraculous.”  
Even through his pain, she knew, Chat would refuse. He was about to. He opened his mouth, but before he could talk, she reached out and plucked the ring off his finger. He screamed then, a hoarse scream that made her drop the miraculous in surprise. He reached for it, but it was too far away, and he was already turning back to his civilian self. 

A small black cat-like creature, most likely his kwami, was trying to reach him with the heavy ring, but collapsed to the roof, and lay there, panting. “I need.. cheese.”  
She smiled. His kwami was hungry, which meant the little creature was weak, and couldn’t fight back. 

——————————————————————————————————————————

She turned her attention back to Chat, and wasn’t surprised to see what Heartbroken had suspected all along. Chat was Adrien, the one who had made her like this, and he would pay.   
He had paid, though, Marienette reasoned. She had already hurt him enough. She had to end this. Heartbroken fought, insisting he was to blame, but Marienette realized her akumized self was repeating the same argument over and over, and she regained control of her mind.

“No,” Hawkmoth gritted out. “No, Heartbroken! We were so close.”  
Marienette tried to smile as she plucked off her earrings, cutting off his voice. “No, we weren’t.”  
She crushed them, letting loose a black and purple butterfly. She felt faint, but knew she had to purify the akuma and use her cleansing light, or else it wouldn’t work.   
Reaching inside herself for some newfound strength, she called Tikki to her side. A faint voice answered her.   
“I thought you were a goner, Marienette. I’m.. glad to see.. you’re back….”  
“Tikki,” she cried urgently. “You need to come her. If you can make it, I promise you all the cookies you’ve ever wanted.”  
She felt a presence by her, and the next thing she knew, a small red blob was hovering beside her weakly. Marienette transformed into Ladybug, wary that since Tikki was tired, it could only last a few seconds at most. She managed to cleanse the akuma and use her healing light before she detransformed, and as she did so, she breathed sigh of relief, and slumped to the ground, blacking out. 

Before she fell asleep completely, she saw Adrien staring down at her, a worried expression on his face. “My Lady, I’m so, so sorry.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Marienette woke up in an unfamiliar room, a large one, with a giant screen on one side of the room, opened to the Ladyblog. She frowned, as she tried to get up.   
“Not so fast,” an amused voice said.  
“Chat?”  
“Well, kinda.”  
Adrien’s face hovered over her, helping her sit up. Marienette realized she was too tired to even stammer, her exhaustion from the past few hours catching up to her. 

“So, I guess you know that I’m Chat now.”  
“Yeah. Is this your.. room?”  
“Uh huh.”  
“Why do you have a huge computer screen opened to the Ladyblog? A big fan of me, huh?”  
Her weak attempt at humor brought a smile to his face. “I was… trying to find out who you were.” He laughed. “Little did I know, she was here all along.”  
“When you turned me down,” she began slowly.  
“I was kinda waiting for Ladybug.” He started to laugh. “I- I’m sorry. I just… I turned down one girl and broke her heart for the same girl…”

Marienette, at the mention of Ladybug, remembered something. “Tikki, your kwami! Where are they?”  
“Plagg is here.” He pointed to the inside of his jacket, where he revealed his black kwami chomping on some stinky cheese.  
“And I’m here,” a tiny voice piped up.  
Marienette looked at the spotted kwami guiltily. “I promised you all the cookies in the world. I guess that didn’t end up coming true, huh? I’m sorry.”  
“Ah, it’s good,” Adrien said, smiling. “She got some cookies while you were asleep.”

“Ughhhh.” Marienette buried her head in her hands. “I’m so sorry.”  
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who should be sorry.”  
She looked up at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “So, do you want to go to the movies tomorrow?”  
“Sure.”  
And Marienette leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, before flopping back to his couch.


End file.
